What is our vision? 

Our core belief is that mankind and nature can support one another through balance, respect and innovation. The way that we achieve this is through protecting the incredible diversity of the region and working with local communities to generate truly sustainable development that creates decent livelihoods in harmony with the natural environment.
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We develop our research, projects and initiatives from our Manu Learning Centre (MLC) situated along the river Madre de Dios in the heart of the Amazonian rainforest. Aside from being in an incredibly beautiful and fascinating Biosphere rich in diversity, the MLC enables us to experience, share and investigate first-hand the changes and problems being caused by the increasing destruction of the Amazonian rainforests.

What do we do?

All projects take place at the Fundo Mascoitania, where the Manu Learning Centre (MLC) is based. The MLC is located in the Biosphere Reserve's Buffer Zone* of the Manu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.                

* The buffer zone (known as the Cultural Zone)  divides the Reserved and Intangible Zones in Manu. It covers high mountains, cloud forest and low jungle. In this area there are small villages, settlers and native communities working on productive activities such as agriculture and lumber at a low scale, since these activities are controlled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Park Authorities.

Our projects have 3 key Areas:

1. Conservation Research

Since 2003, CREES Foundation actively supports cutting edge and traditional research projects providing an environment of openness and collaboration to projects that may just be in trial research stages in Manu.
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Our main aim is to protect an endangered species and ecosystems by studying how humans impact biodiversity and contributing to international data that helps ensure these species remained protected and informing government decisions. The scientific work undertaken by CREES is done in collaboration with University of Oxford, University of Glasgow, University of Aberdeen and the University of Oregon, amongst others.

2. Sustainable Initiatives

Biogardens project:

This project aims to provide the poorest single mothers of Manu with soil management skills to understand the best methods to grow in large scale and build areas of compost and planting organic vegetables. The Biogardens project tackles health issues by increasing the nutritional values. At the same time, this project addresses income issues, as production surpluses can be sold at the local market.
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CREES Foundation Carbon Offsetting Initiative:

Human-induced climate change threatens ecosystems, productivity and the global economy. The world’s most vulnerable people and ecosystems will suffer earliest and most severely from these impacts. Carbon offsetting can help to contribute towards mitigating climate change and foster sustainable development. The CREES Foundation’s carbon offsetting initiative supports farmers in the Peruvian Amazon and aims to provide them with a long term plan for sustainable land use.

The CREES Foundation will work with local communities to plant bananas together with native trees (known as agroforestry) on deforested land. While the trees grow they capture and store carbon, removing it from the atmosphere, and also provide shade and nutrients to the bananas which promotes crop growth and increases yields. Sale of the carbon, crops and timber, funds the project and provides the farmers with sustainable sources of income. The initiative has been designed to go beyond long-term carbon capture by providing additional social, economic, ecosystem and conservation benefits. Oriel College, University of Oxford, are partnering with the CREES Foundation to set up this scheme and have visited the project site to advise on the design of the initiative. Oriel College and other partners in this scheme will help local communities in Peru to improve their livelihoods, develop sustainably and enhance biodiversity.

3. Capacity building

The CREES Foundation believes that education is one of the founding blocks of building a sustainable community. It involves a two way learning process, from students to teachers and vice-versa, that can focus on understanding the local context and the educational priorities. Working with government, other non-profit organizations and the local populations, the Foundation aims to bridge gaps in infrastructure, materials and training to enhance education as a tool for knowledge and empowerment.
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The Foundation currently has 3 different programmes that support and stimulate education within the region:

Scholarship Programmes: The Amazon Scholarship Programme (ASP) is a new initiative for the Foundation aimed at young researchers, university/post graduate students, and experts within multiple fields (including the arts) that can contribute to the CREES Foundation’s vision.

Developing Materials & Curriculum for Environmental Education: The CREES Foundation works to both create locally relevant education materials for the Peruvian Government and US Government as well as expanding its role working alongside teachers to build their capacity and provide dynamic lesson plans that match the realities of their classrooms.

Local Outreach Programmes to Inspire Young people: Working directly with young local students, the Foundation provides the support and tools to help young people teach and learn from each other and experts about their local environment. Facilitating weekly meetings at the Manu Learning Centre as well as working directly in the communities, the outreach programme brings visual media, journalism and a voice to young people motivated to get involved in the future of their region.